Capital in the twenty-first century, and an alternative

We need a new paradigm, informed by the
past, which can address most of the problems that capitalism has been creating,
for the benefit of the many and of the environment.

"Wikihouse is an open source project to reinvent the way we make homes... "Four years ago, Thomas Piketty
published his best-seller that tried to provide a working model
for capital in the twenty-first century. The reasons why Piketty failed to
accomplish some of his goals have been well explained by David Harvey.

I’d like to shed light on a new process
that has been neglected by both Piketty and Harvey. For those who wish to
understand “capital in the twenty-first century”, studying a rising form of
production is of paramount importance. Following the format of ‘capital’, I
call this emerging phenomenon ‘phygital’.

What is capital?

Capital is a process, not a thing,
which results in social relations. Put simply, it is a process in which money
is used to make more money. This process is situated in a specific context
where the capital owners develop multifaceted relations with the rest of the
people and their habitat. Capital is a process in which money is used to make more money.

The owners of a company profit by
developing relations with their employees, partners, suppliers, customers,
natural environment etc. How value is created and wealth is accumulated in the
hands of the very few is a complex process. However, to quote the Encyclopedia of Marxism, “the issue is to understand what kind
of social relation is capital and where it leads”.

I shall argue the same for another
process, named ‘phygital’.

What is phygital?

‘Phygital’ is a process whereby ‘physical’
(material production) meets the ‘digital’ (production of knowledge, software,
design, culture). It encapsulates digitally enhanced physical reality and
production, to show how the influx of shared knowledge changes and improves
production.

First it was Wikipedia and the myriads
of free and open-source software projects. They demonstrated how people, driven
by diverse motives, can produce complex ‘digital artefacts’ if they are given
access to the means of production. Now we are also observing a rich tapestry of
initiatives in the field of manufacturing.

For example, see the Wikihouse project that produces open source
designs for houses; the OpenBionics project that produces open source designs for
robotic and bionic devices; or the FarmHack and L’Atelier
Paysan communities that produce open source designs for agricultural machines. Digital
technologies enable people to cooperate in a remote and asynchronous way, and
produce designs that are shared as digital commons (open source). Then the
actual manufacturing takes place locally, often through shared infrastructures
(from 3d printing and CNC machines to low-tech tools and crafts) and with local
biophysical conditions in mind. Phygital is a process in which shared resources (commons) are used to produce more shared resources (commons).

Similar to capital, phygital is a
process that results in social relations. However, it is a process in which
shared resources (commons) are used to produce more shared resources (commons).
The kind of social relations can thus be very different to capitalism. And it
may lead to a post-capitalist economy and society.

Do we really need another new term?

No, not necessarily. But we need a new
paradigm, informed by the past, which can address most of the problems that
capitalism has been creating for the benefit of the many and of the
environment. Towards that end, discussions around and experimentation with
post-capitalist alternatives are necessary.

I believe that new ideas should ideally
be described by using already widely understood terms so that the message is
effectively communicated. However, I cannot come up with a better term that
would describe this conjunction of the digital with the physical. If someone
can, may this brief essay serve as inspiration.

About the author

Vasilis Kostakis is a Senior Research
Fellow at Tallinn University of Technology, and a Research Affiliate at Harvard
University. He is core member of the P2P Foundation and the founder of the P2P
Lab.

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